Iris capture apparatus, iris capture method, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a technology that acquires a high resolution iris image more quickly than before. An iris capture apparatus according to one example embodiment of the present invention includes a rotatable movable mirror; a control unit that controls rotation of the movable mirror; a capture unit that captures different regions of a face of a user via the movable mirror and outputs a group of images every time the control unit rotates the movable mirror by a predetermined angle; and an iris image acquisition unit that acquires an image of an iris of the user from the group of images.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/375,309 filed on Jul. 14, 2021, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/689,783filed on Nov. 20, 2019, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,093,741, whichis a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/283,038 filed on Feb. 22, 2019, which issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,503,974, which is a National Stage Entry of international applicationPCT/JP2017/030122, filed on Aug. 23, 2017, which claims the benefit ofpriority from Japanese Patent Application 2016-163434 filed on Aug. 24,2016, the disclosures of all of which are incorporated in their entiretyby reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a storagemedium that capture an image of a human's iris.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, a technology of iris recognition that performs personalauthentication using a human's iris has been put into practical use.Since a fine pattern of an iris is used for iris recognition, a highresolution iris image is required in order to realize iris recognitionthat satisfies sufficient accuracy. The high resolution image refers to,for example, an image of around 400 pixels in the vertical direction andaround 400 pixels in the horizontal direction for an iris of one of theeyes.

A conceivable method of obtaining a high resolution iris image may be tocause a camera having a proximity lens to come close to the eye andcapture it. However, it is inconvenient to move the user's eye close tothe camera or move the camera close to the user's eye every timeperforming iris recognition.

To improve convenience at the user, it is desirable to capture a highresolution iris image at a position distant from the user. When an irisis captured at a position distant from the user, there is difficulty dueto an uncertain position of the user or individual differences of theheights or the like among users. Further, since there is a limit inincrease of the resolution of a camera, it is difficult to capture, in ashort time at a high resolution, the entire range where the user's irismay be located. Thus, there is a demand for a technology of acquiring ahigh resolution iris image at a position distant from the user.

The art disclosed in Patent Literature 1 first acquires a plurality ofimages including a wide range by using a wide angle camera and thendetermines the position of a human's eye from a connected image formedof a plurality of images. The art then performs capturing with atelescope camera being focused on the position of the eye and acquiresan image including an iris. With such a configuration, even when thereis a positional shift of a user or there are individual differencesamong users, a high resolution iris image can be acquired.

The art disclosed in Patent Literature 2 first acquires an imageincluding a person by using two human-position cameras and then detectsthe position in the vertical direction of an iris from the image. Next,the art adjusts the angle in the vertical direction of a mirror providedon a light path of an iris camera to the position of the iris and thencaptures a plurality of images by using the iris camera while rotatingthe mirror in the horizontal direction. The art then selects an imageincluding the iris out of the plurality of images. With such aconfiguration, even when there is a positional shift of a user or thereare individual differences among users, a high resolution iris image canbe acquired.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   PTL 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-137224-   PTL 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-237169

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

However, both the arts disclosed in Patent Literatures 1 and 2 requireat least two capture steps by using multiple types of cameras, whichinclude a step of capturing a wide range image to determine the positionof an iris and a step of capturing only the iris to acquire an irisimage. Therefore, since both the arts disclosed in Patent Literatures 1and 2 require long time for capturing and iris detection, which isinconvenient for the user and difficult to be applied to walk-throughrecognition in which iris recognition is performed on a moving user.

The present invention has been made in view of the problem describedabove and intends to provide a technology of acquiring a high resolutioniris image more quickly than before.

A first example aspect of the present invention is an iris captureapparatus including: a rotatable movable mirror; a control unit thatcontrols rotation of the movable mirror; a capture unit that capturesdifferent regions of a face of a user via the movable mirror and outputsa group of images every time the control unit rotates the movable mirrorby a predetermined angle; and an iris image acquisition unit thatacquires an image of an iris of the user from the group of images.

A second example aspect of the present invention is an iris capturemethod including steps of: rotating a rotatable movable mirrorrepeatedly by a predetermined angle; capturing different regions of aface of a user via the movable mirror and outputting a group of imagesevery time rotating the movable mirror by a predetermined angle; andacquiring an image of an iris of the user from the group of images.

A third example aspect of the present invention is a storage medium thatcauses a computer to execute steps of rotating a rotatable movablemirror repeatedly by a predetermined angle; capturing different regionsof a face of a user via the movable mirror and outputting a group ofimages every time rotating the movable mirror by a predetermined angle;and acquiring an image of an iris of the user from the group of images.

According to the present invention, capturing of different regions of auser's face is repeated with a movable mirror being rotated, and animage of a user's iris is acquired from a group of output images. Sincethe movable mirror can be rotated faster than a camera, it is possibleto acquire an iris image more quickly. Further, since different regionsof a user's face are captured with the movable mirror being rotated, itis possible to acquire a high resolution iris image without requiringmultiple types of cameras.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an iris capture apparatus according toa first example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the iris captureapparatus according to the first example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram a capture method performed by the iriscapture apparatus according to the first example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the iris capture apparatus according to thefirst example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an iris image acquisition method of adivision image scheme according to the first example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an iris image acquisition method of acomposite image scheme according to the first example embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of an iris image capturemethod according to the first example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a capture processaccording to the first example embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of an iris imageacquisition process of a division image scheme according to the firstexample embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of an iris imageacquisition process of a composite image scheme according to the firstexample embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an iris capture apparatus according toa second example embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a capture method performed by the iriscapture apparatus according to the second example embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the iris capture apparatus according tothe second example embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of an iris image capturemethod according to the second example embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a schematic configuration diagram of the iris captureapparatus according to each example embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

While example embodiments of the present invention will be describedbelow with reference to the drawings, the present invention is notlimited to these present example embodiments. Note that, throughout thedrawings illustrated below, components having the same function arelabeled with the same reference, and the repeated description thereofmay be omitted.

First Example Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an iris capture apparatus 100 accordingto the present example embodiment. The iris capture apparatus 100 has acamera 110 that captures an iris of a user A, a rotatable movable mirror120, a light source 130 that irradiates the user A with a light, and ahuman sensor 140 that detects the presence of the user A.

The camera 110 is a capture unit that performs capturing by using areflected light B emitted to the user A from the light source 130 andreflected by the user A and outputs an image of a capture result asdigital data. As the camera 110, any capture apparatus such as a ChargeCoupled Device (CCD) camera, a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor(CMOS) camera, or the like may be used. The camera 110 includes an imagepickup device, an electric circuit, a lens, or the like that arenecessary for capturing. The camera 110 is a narrow angle camera and isadjusted to capture a region of a part of the face of the user A at oncevia the movable mirror 120.

The light source 130 is a Light Emitting Diode (LED) that generates aninfrared ray (having a wavelength of 0.7 μm to 1.0 mm) in the presentexample embodiment. The light source 130 irradiates the user A with aninfrared ray when performing capturing by the camera 110. The lightsource 130 is provided near the lens of the camera 110, and the lightfrom the light source 130 is emitted to the user A via the movablemirror 120. Any number of the light sources 130 may be provided, and itis desirable that a plurality of light sources 130 be provided so as tosurround the side face of the lens of the camera 110. Further, the lightsource 130 may be provided at any position between the camera 110 andthe mirror 120 without being limited to being provided near the camera110. Alternatively, the light source 130 may be provided between themirror 120 and the user A. As the light source 130, any light sourcesuch as a laser diode (LD), a lamp, or the like may be used withoutbeing limited to the LED. As a light irradiated to the user A by thelight source 130, without being limited to an infrared ray, a light ofany wavelength may be used in accordance with a purpose or anenvironment where iris capturing is performed.

The movable mirror 120 is provided on a light path of a light enteringthe camera 110. The movable mirror 120 is a mirror that guides a lightfrom the light source 130 to the user A and further reflects thereflected light B, which is reflected on the user A, to guide thereflected light B to the lens of the camera 110. As the movable mirror120, any optical system such as a plane mirror, a curved surface mirror,a prism, or the like that is capable of guiding the reflected light B tothe lens of the camera 110 may be used.

The movable mirror 120 has a drive unit and rotates about apredetermined axis by being driven by the drive unit. The drive unit isa stepping motor in the present example embodiment. With the drive unitrotating the movable mirror 120, the capturing range on the user A takenby the camera 110 changes. That is, rotation of the movable mirror 120enables the camera 110 to scan the entire region of the face of the userA.

The movable mirror 120 may be rotated about two or more axes withoutbeing limited to a single axis. As the drive unit of the movable mirror120, any other drive units such as a motor, an actuator, or the like maybe used as long as it can change the angle of the reflective surface ofthe movable mirror 120. Further, as the movable mirror 120, agalvanometer mirror may be used in which a mirror connected to apermanent magnet and an electromagnet provided facing the permanentmagnet are used to control a current to the electromagnet and therebythe mirror can be rotated at a high speed.

The human sensor 140 is a sensor that detects the user A being presentwithin a capturing range of the camera 110. The iris capture apparatus100 can start capturing an iris in response to the presence of the userA being detected by the human sensor 140. As the human sensor 140, anysensor capable of detecting the presence of a human, such as an infraredsensor, an ultrasonic wave sensor, or the like, may be used.

The iris capture apparatus 100 acquires an iris image of the user Ausing an iris image acquisition method described later by capturing aface of the user A using the camera 110 while rotating the movablemirror 120.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the iris captureapparatus 100 according to the present example embodiment. The iriscapture apparatus 100 may be formed of a single apparatus or may beformed by two or more physically divided apparatuses connected by a wireor wirelessly. For example, the iris capture apparatus 100 may be alaptop computer, a desktop computer, a workstation, a personal digitalassistant, a server, a blade server, a mainframe, an embedded system, orthe like. The specific hardware configuration of the iris captureapparatus 100 is not limited to the configuration below but may be ofvarious types or forms.

The iris capture apparatus 100 has a processor 101, a memory 102, and astorage device 103. Further, the iris capture apparatus 100 has ahigh-speed controller 104 including a high-speed interface and alow-speed controller 106 including a low-speed interface. The memory 102and a high-speed expansion port 105 are connected to the high-speedcontroller 104. Further, a display device such as a display 108 isconnected to the high-speed controller 104. On the other hand, alow-speed expansion port 107 and the storage device 103 are connected tothe low-speed controller 106.

The processor 101, the memory 102, the storage device 103, thehigh-speed controller 104, the low-speed controller 106, and thehigh-speed expansion port 105 are connected to each other throughvarious buses. Further, the processor 101, the memory 102, the storagedevice 103, the high-speed controller 104, the low-speed controller 106,and the high-speed expansion port 105 may be implemented on a commonmotherboard or may be implemented in other forms as appropriate.

The processor 101 is a central processing unit (CPU), for example, andis able to process instructions executed within the iris captureapparatus 100. Such instructions include an instruction that is used fordisplaying graphics information of a graphical user interface (GUI) on adisplay device such as the display 108 and stored in the memory 102 orthe storage device 103.

Further, a plurality of processors, a plurality of busses, or aplurality of processors and a plurality of busses can be used asappropriate together with a plurality of memory devices and multipletypes of memory devices. Further, a plurality of iris captureapparatuses 100 can be connected to each device that performs a part ofthe necessary process. For example, a plurality of iris captureapparatuses 100 can be connected to each other as a server bank, a groupof blade servers, or a multiprocessor system.

The memory 102 stores therein information within the iris captureapparatus 100. For example, the memory 102 may be a volatile memoryunit, a non-volatile memory unit, or the combination thereof. The memory102 may be another computer readable storage medium, such as a magneticdisk, an optical disk, or the like, for example.

The storage device 103 can configure mass storage used for the iriscapture apparatus 100. The storage device 103 may be a computer readablestorage medium or include such a computer readable storage medium suchas, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk device, a harddisk device, an optical disk device, a tape device, a solid state memorydevice such as a flash memory, a disk array, or the like. The storagedevice 103 may include a storage area network or may be a device withanother configuration.

The high-speed controller 104 manages processes in which the bandwidthfor the iris capture apparatus 100 is intensively used. On the otherhand, the low-speed controller 106 manages processes in which thebandwidth is less intensively used. However, such allocation of thefunctions is a mere example, and allocation is not limited thereto.Further, a part or a whole of the high-speed controller 104 may beincorporated in the processor 101.

The high-speed controller 104 is connected to the high-speed expansionport 105 that can accept the memory 102 and various expansion cards.Further, the high-speed controller 104 is connected to the display 108via a graphics processor or an accelerator, for example.

The low-speed controller 106 is connected to the storage device 103 andthe low-speed expansion port 107. The low-speed expansion port 107 caninclude, for example, a communication port of various standards such asUniversal Serial Bus (USB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), wired orwireless Ethernet (registered trademark), or the like. One or pluralityof input devices such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, orthe like are connected to the low-speed expansion port 107. Furthermore,the camera 110, the movable mirror 120, the light source 130 and thehuman sensor 140 described above are connected to the low-speedexpansion port 107. Further, one or plurality of network devices such asa switch, a router, or the like can be connected to the low-speedexpansion port 107 via a network adapter, for example. That is, thelow-speed expansion port 107 functions as a communication interface.

The iris capture apparatus 100 can be implemented in many differentforms without being limited to the form described above. For example,the iris capture apparatus 100 can be implemented in a form of a typicalserver or a plurality of servers in a form of a group of such servers.Further, the iris capture apparatus 100 can be implemented as a part ofthe rack server system. Furthermore, the iris capture apparatus 100 canbe implemented in a form of a personal computer such as a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, or the like.

Note that a part or a whole of the program executed by the processor 101of the iris capture apparatus 100 can be provided by a computer readablestorage medium storing the above, such as a digital versatile disc-readonly memory (DVD-ROM), a compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM), a flashmemory such as a USB memory or the like.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a capture method performed by the iriscapture apparatus 100 according to the present example embodiment. FIG.3 is a diagram of the face of the user A when viewed from the front. InFIG. 3 , the gravity direction is defined as a Y-axis, and a directionperpendicular to the gravity direction is defined as an X-axis. Themovable mirror 120 is adjusted so as to rotate about the X-axis. Thecamera 110 captures a capturing region D1 including a part of the faceof the user A at once. In response to the movable mirror 120 beingrotated by a predetermined angle from the state of the capturing regionD1, the camera 110 captures a capturing region D2 moved by apredetermined distance in the Y-axis direction. The camera 110 capturesthe entire region of the face of the user A by rotating the movablemirror 120 for a predetermined number of times to perform capturing forthe predetermined number of times. The iris capture apparatus 100 thendetects an iris A1 of the user A from a group of captured images andacquires an iris image.

Each of the capturing regions D1 and D2 is a rectangular region that islonger in the X-axis direction (the horizontal direction with respect toa face) than in the Y-axis direction (the vertical direction withrespect to a face). The camera 110 and the movable mirror 120 arearranged such that the vertical length of the capturing regions D1 andD2 is shorter than the vertical length of a face of the user A and thehorizontal length of the capturing regions D1 and D2 is longer than thehorizontal length of a face of the user A. As a size of a face of theuser A, a preset size of a face of an average person may be used. Withsuch a configuration, the camera 110 is able to scan vertically a faceof the user A who may have various heights and capture the entire regiononly by rotating the movable mirror 120 about a single axis (X-axis).Further, since the vertical length of the capturing regions D1 and D2 islimited, it is possible to capture a high resolution iris image whilesuppressing a resolution required for the image pickup device of thecamera 110.

In the neighboring capturing regions D1 and D2, an overlapping region ΔDwhere the capturing regions D1 and D2 overlap with each other for apredetermined length in the vertical direction is formed. With theoverlapping region ΔD being provided in such a way, since theprobability of the entire image of the iris A1 being included in atleast one of the neighboring capturing regions D1 and D2 is increased,this can reduce the probability of the iris A1 being divided and no irisimage being obtained. It is desirable that the length of the overlappingregion ΔD be longer than or equal to half the vertical length of each ofthe capturing regions D1 and D2. Thereby, since each point on the faceof the user A is included in both the capturing regions D1 and D2neighboring each other, it is possible to effectively suppress the irisA1 from being divided.

For example, when the camera 110 having a view angle of 11 degrees isused and when the distance between the camera 110 and the movable mirror120 is 5 cm and the distance between the movable mirror 120 and the userA is 30 cm, the vertical length of the capturing regions D1 and D2 willbe 2×tan(11/2)×(30+5)=6.7 cm. Since the vertical length of a face of anaverage person is around 21 cm to 24 cm, an iris image of the user A canbe acquired by performing rotation and capturing for around six timeseven taking the overlapping region into consideration. The size of thecapturing regions D1 and D2 may be set in accordance with thearrangement or the capture environment of the iris capture apparatus100.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the iris capture apparatus 100 according tothe present example embodiment. In FIG. 4 , lines between blocksillustrate main dataflows, and other dataflows than is illustrated inFIG. 4 may be provided. In FIG. 4 , each block does not illustrate aconfiguration of a hardware (device) unit but illustrates aconfiguration of a function unit.

The iris capture apparatus 100 has a human detection unit 1001, a mirrorcontrol unit 1002, a capture unit 1003, and an iris image acquisitionunit 1004. In the iris capture apparatus 100, the human detection unit1001, the mirror control unit 1002, the capture unit 1003, and the irisimage acquisition unit 1004 are stored in the memory 102 as programsexecutable by the processor 101, respectively. That is, when the iriscapture method according to the present example embodiment is executed,the processor 101 functions as the human detection unit 1001, the mirrorcontrol unit 1002, the capture unit 1003, and the iris image acquisitionunit 1004. At least some of these functions may be implemented as anelectronic circuit rather than a program.

The human detection unit 1001 uses the human sensor 140 to detectswhether or not the user A is present within a capturing range of thecamera 110 every predetermined time (for example, every 0.1 second). Thehuman detection unit 1001 holds the latest detection result in thememory 102 or the storage device 103. Based on the result detected bythe human detection unit 1001, the mirror control unit 1002, the captureunit 1003, and the iris image acquisition unit 1004 start capturing aniris when the user A is present.

The mirror control unit 1002 and the capture unit 1003 cause the camera110 to capture images of the face of the user A while rotating themovable mirror 120. First, the mirror control unit 1002 transmits anelectrical signal to the movable mirror 120 and drives the movablemirror 120 to rotate up to a predetermined start position. Next, thecapture unit 1003 irradiates the user A with a light from the lightsource 130 and causes the camera 110 to capture a predeterminedcapturing range on the user A. Every time capturing is performed by thecapture unit 1003, the mirror control unit 1002 transmits an electricalsignal to the movable mirror 120 and drives the movable mirror 120 torotate by a predetermined angle. In such a way, rotation operated by themirror control unit 1002 and capturing operated by the capture unit 1003are repeated. After rotation operated by the mirror control unit 1002and capturing operated by the capture unit 1003 are repeated for apredetermined number of times, the capture unit 1003 holds a group ofcaptured images in the memory 102 or the storage device 103 and ends thecapturing. The start position of the movable mirror 120 and the angleand the number of repetition of the rotation of the movable mirror 120are preset in accordance with the arrangement of the camera 110 and themovable mirror 120 and stored in the storage device 103. It is desirablethat the angle of one time of rotation of the movable mirror 120 besmaller than or equal to 7.5 degrees.

Furthermore, the number of repetition of rotation of the movable mirror120 may be dynamically determined based on the position of the user A.In this case, the human detection unit 1001 uses the human sensor 140 tomeasure the distance to the user A. The mirror control unit 1002 thendetermines the number of repetition of rotation of the movable mirror120 based on the distance measured by the human detection unit 1001.This is because the size of the capturing region on the user A changesdepending on the distance from the camera 110 even when the movablemirror 120 is rotated by the same angle. For example, the mirror controlunit 1002 decreases the number of repetition of rotation of the movablemirror 120 when the user A is located distant and increases the numberof repetition of rotation of the movable mirror 120 when the user A islocated close. With such a configuration, a region including the upperend to the lower end of the face of the user A can be captured by theappropriate number of times.

The iris image acquisition unit 1004 acquires an iris image from a groupof images acquired by the capture unit 1003. Acquisition of an irisimage from a group of images is performed by either a division imagescheme of selecting an image including an iris from a group of images toextract the iris or a composite image scheme of creating a compositeimage from a group of images to extract an iris. Respective schemes willbe described below.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an iris image acquisition method of thedivision image scheme according to the present example embodiment.First, the iris image acquisition unit 1004 acquires a group of dividedimages E captured by the capture unit 1003 from the memory 102 or thestorage device 103. The divided images E are obtained by capturingrespective different regions on the user A. Next, the iris imageacquisition unit 1004 performs coarse search of the divided images E fora face region and selects images including the face region. The coarsesearch for a face region is performed based on the relative positionalrelationship between components of a face, such as an eyebrow(s), aneye(s), a nose, a mouth, or the like. For example, the coarse positionsof an eyebrow(s) and a mouth are acquired by using template matchingfrom the divided images E, the divided image E including the eyebrow(s)to the divided image E including the mouth are selected, and theselected divided images E are a detection target of an iris. The coarsesearch for a face region may be omitted, and all the divided images Emay be the detection target of an iris.

Next, the iris image acquisition unit 1004 calculates a feature amount Ffor each predetermined range about each point of the divided image Ethat is the detection target of an iris. The range used for calculationof the feature amount F has a size sufficient to include an iris. Theiris image acquisition unit 1004 then calculates a similarity of thefeature amount F at each point with respect to a feature amount of apre-stored iris and detects, as the position of the iris, a point atwhich the similarity is greater than or equal to a predeterminedthreshold. When a plurality of points where the similarity is greaterthan or equal to a predetermined threshold are detected, the point atwhich the similarity is the highest may be determined as an iris.Detection of an iris is performed for both left and right eyes,respectively. The feature amount F may be calculated by using a knownmethod for identifying a component of a face. A feature amount of aniris to be compared to the feature amount F of the divided image E iscalculated in advance from an image of an average iris and stored in thestorage device 103. The threshold of the similarity is determined inadvance through an experiment or a simulation and stored in the storagedevice 103.

Finally, the iris image acquisition unit 1004 cuts out predeterminedranges each including the position of the detected iris as iris images Gfor left and right eyes, respectively, from the divided image E andholds the iris mages G in the memory 102 or the storage device 103. Therange of the iris image G may have a size including only the iris or mayhave a size including the entire eye.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an iris image acquisition method of thecomposite image scheme according to the present example embodiment.First, the iris image acquisition unit 1004 acquires a group of dividedimages E captured by the capture unit 1003 from the memory 102 or thestorage device 103. The divided images E are obtained by capturingrespective different regions on the user A. Next, the iris imageacquisition unit 1004 generates a single composite image H from thedivided images E so as to exclude the overlapping regions ΔD in FIG. 3 .For example, the composite image H is generated by deleting portionscorresponding to the vertical lengths of overlapping regions ΔD fromrespective lower ends (or upper ends) of respective divided images andthen connecting the divided images E to each other in the verticaldirection.

The iris image acquisition unit 1004 then determines the position ofeyes from the composite image H by using a known face recognitionmethod. Finally, the iris image acquisition unit 1004 cuts out, as irisimages G, predetermined ranges including respective positions of thedetected left and right eyes from the composite image H and holds theiris mages G in the memory 102 or the storage device 103. The range ofthe iris image G may have a size including only the iris or may have asize including the entire eye.

In the iris image acquisition method of the division image scheme, thereis an advantage that, even when the full face of the user A is notgenerated from composite images due to motion of the face duringcapturing or the like, an iris image can be acquired as long as an irisis included in any of the divided images E. On the other hand, in theiris image acquisition method of the composite image scheme, there is anadvantage that, since the position of the eye can be detected based onthe arrangement of components of the entire face, an accurate iris imagecan be acquired. As an iris image acquisition method, any of thedivision image scheme and the composite image scheme may be used, orboth of them may be used in combination. As an iris image acquisitionmethod, any method that can acquire an image of an iris from an image ofa face may be used without being limited to the above schemes.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of the iris capture methodaccording to the present example embodiment. First, the human detectionunit 1001 uses the human sensor 140 to detect whether or not the user Ais present within the capturing range of the camera 110 (step S11). Ifthe user A is not detected in step S11 (step S12, NO), step S11 isrepeated every predetermined time. If the user A is detected in step S11(step S12, YES), the iris capture apparatus 100 acquires an image of aface of the user A using a capture process described later by using FIG.8 (step S100). Finally, the iris capture apparatus 100 acquires an irisimage of the user A using an iris image acquisition process describedlater by using FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 from the image of the face of the userA acquired in step S100 (step S200). The iris image acquisition processis implemented with at least one of the division image scheme and thecomposite image scheme.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a capture processaccording to the present example embodiment. First, the capture unit1003 turns on the light source 130 to irradiate the user A with a light(step S101). The light source 130 may be turned on all the time during acapture process or may be turned on intermittently only during capturingbeing performed by the camera 110. Next, the mirror control unit 1002drives the movable mirror 120 and rotates the movable mirror 120 up to apredetermined start position (step S102). Next, the capture unit 1003causes the camera 110 to capture a predetermined capturing range on theuser A (step S103). If a predetermined number of times of capturing isnot completed (step S104, NO), the mirror control unit 1002 drives themovable mirror 120 and rotates the movable mirror 120 by a predeterminedangle (step S105). Steps S103 to S105 are repeated until the number oftimes of capturing reaches the predetermined number of times.

If the predetermined number of times of capturing ends (step S104, YES),the capture unit 1003 stores a group of images captured in steps S103 toS105 in the memory 102 or the storage device 103 (step S106). The iriscapture apparatus 100 then ends the capture process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of the iris imageacquisition process of the division image scheme according to thepresent example embodiment. First, the iris image acquisition unit 1004reads a group of images captured in the capture process of step S100from the memory 102 or the storage device 103 and acquires the readimages as the divided images E (step S201). Next, the iris imageacquisition unit 1004 performs coarse search for a face region on thedivided images E acquired in step S201 and selects images including theface region out of the divided images E (step S202). If no face regionis detected in step S202 (step S203, NO), the iris capture apparatus 100outputs an indication that no iris image has been acquired and ends theiris image acquisition process.

If a face region is detected in step S202 (step S203, YES), the irisimage acquisition unit 1004 calculates a feature amount for eachpredetermined range about each point within one of the divided images Eincluding the face region selected in step S202 (step S204). The irisimage acquisition unit 1004 then calculates a similarity of a featureamount of each point calculated in step S204 with respect to a featureamount of a pre-stored iris (step S205). If there is no point at whichthe similarity calculated in step S205 is greater than or equal to apredetermined threshold (step S206, NO) and if the process is notcompleted for all the divided images E including the face regionselected in step S202 (step S208, NO), steps S204 to S206 are performedfor the next one divided image E. If there is no point at which thesimilarity calculated in step S205 is greater than or equal to apredetermined threshold (step S206, NO) and if the process is completedfor all the divided images E including the face region selected in stepS202 (step S208, YES), the iris capture apparatus 100 outputs anindication that no iris image has been acquired and ends the iris imageacquisition process.

If there is a point at which the similarity calculated in step S205 isgreater than or equal to a predetermined threshold (step S206, YES), theiris image acquisition unit 1004 cuts out a predetermined rangeincluding the point from the divided image E and stores the cut outpredetermined ranges as the iris image G in the memory 102 or thestorage device 103 (step S207). Acquisition of the iris image G isperformed for both left and right eyes, respectively. The iris captureapparatus 100 then ends the iris image acquisition process.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of an iris imageacquisition process of the composite image scheme according to thepresent example embodiment. First, the iris image acquisition unit 1004reads a group of images captured in the capture process of step S100from the memory 102 or the storage device 103 and acquires the readimages as the divided images E (step S211). Next, the iris imageacquisition unit 1004 composes the divided images E acquired in stepS211 to generate the composite image H (step S212). The iris imageacquisition unit 1004 detects the positions of the eyes from thecomposite image H generated in step S212 by using a known facerecognition method (step S213). If the positions of the eyes are notdetected in step S213 (step S214, NO), the iris capture apparatus 100outputs an indication that no iris image has been acquired and ends theiris image acquisition process.

If the positions of the eyes are detected in step S213 (step S214, YES),the iris image acquisition unit 1004 cuts out predetermined rangesincluding the detected positions of the eyes as the iris images G fromthe composite image H and holds the cut out predetermined ranges as theiris image G in the memory 102 or the storage device 103 (step S215).Acquisition of the iris image G is performed for both left and righteyes, respectively. The iris capture apparatus 100 then ends the irisimage acquisition process.

The processor 101 of the iris capture apparatus 100 is the subject ofeach step (operation) included in the process illustrated FIG. 8 to FIG.10 . That is, the processor 101 reads a program used for executing eachof the processes illustrated in FIG. 8 to FIG. 10 from the memory 102 orthe storage device 103, executes the program to control each unit of theiris capture apparatus 100, and thereby performs the process illustratedin FIG. 8 to FIG. 10 .

The iris capture apparatus 100 according to the present exampleembodiment acquires a high resolution iris image by repeatedly capturinga part of the face of the user A while repeatedly rotating the movablemirror 120. Since the movable mirror 120 is lighter than the camera 110in general, the torque at the drive unit used for rotating the movablemirror 120 is small. Thus, the iris capture apparatus 100 can shortenthe time required for rotation and the time required for stop thereofcompared to the case of rotating the camera 110 and quickly capture aniris. Further, the iris capture apparatus 100 can obtain a highresolution iris image by using only the single type of the camera 110without requiring multiple types of cameras such as a wide angle cameraand a telescope camera as disclosed in the arts of Patent Literatures 1and 2. Thus, the iris capture apparatus 100 can quickly capture an irisand reduce manufacturing cost with a simple apparatus configuration.

Second Example Embodiment

The present example embodiment performs walk-through recognition inwhich iris recognition is performed on the moving user A. FIG. 11 is aschematic diagram of an iris capture apparatus 200 according to thepresent example embodiment. The iris capture apparatus 200 has a camera210, a movable mirror 220, a light source 230, a human sensor 240, and agate 250.

The camera 210, the movable mirror 220, the light source 230, and thehuman sensor 240 are similar to the camera 110, the movable mirror 120,the light source 130, and the human sensor 140 according to the firstexample embodiment, respectively. The gate 250 is a gate that has adrive unit and can be opened and closed, and the opened state and theclosed state can be switched by being driven by the drive unit.

While having a configuration common to the movable mirror 120 accordingto the first example embodiment, the movable mirror 220 is different inthe feature of rotation about two axes. The movable mirror 220 rotatesabout two predetermined axes by being driven by the drive unit. That is,the iris capture apparatus 200 can change the capturing range not onlyin the vertical direction but also in the horizontal direction. As themovable mirror 220, two mirrors that are separately rotated may be usedin combination rather than a single mirror. In such a case, the movablemirror 220 includes a first mirror that is rotated about a first axisand a second mirror that is rotated about a second axis that isdifferent from the first axis. Further, the reflected light B from theuser A enters the camera 210 via the first mirror and the second mirror.

The iris capture apparatus 200 repeatedly captures the inside of apredetermined scan region J by rotating the movable mirror 220. The scanregion J is located in a space between the detecting range of the humansensor 240 and the gate 250. This enables the iris capture apparatus 200to acquire an iris image of the user A at the timing when the movinguser A enters the inside of the scan region J after detected by thehuman sensor 240.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a capture method performed by the iriscapture apparatus 200 according to the present example embodiment. FIG.12 is a diagram of the face of the user A when viewed from the front. InFIG. 12 , the gravity direction is defined as a Y-axis, and a directionperpendicular to the gravity direction is defined as an X-axis. Themovable mirror 220 is adjusted so as to rotate about the X-axis and theY-axis. The camera 210 captures a capturing region K1 including a partof the face of the user A at once. In response to the movable mirror 220being rotated by a predetermined angle about the X-axis from the stateof the capturing region K1, the camera 210 captures a capturing regionK2 moved by a predetermined distance in the Y-axis direction. Inresponse to the movable mirror 220 being rotated by a predeterminedangle about the Y-axis from the state of the capturing region K1, thecamera 210 captures a capturing region K3 moved by a predetermineddistance in the X-axis direction. The camera 210 captures the entireregion within the scan region J by repeating capturing while rotatingthe movable mirror 220 about the X-axis or the Y-axis by a predeterminedangle. The iris capture apparatus 200 then detects the iris A1 of theuser A from a group of captured images and acquires an iris image. Thesizes of the capturing regions K1 to K3 and the size of the scan regionJ may be set in accordance with the arrangement or the captureenvironment of the iris capture apparatus 200.

In the vertically neighboring capturing regions K1 and K2, anoverlapping region ΔKy where the capturing regions K1 and K2 overlapwith each other for a predetermined length in the vertical direction isformed. Further, in the horizontally neighboring capturing regions K1and K3, an overlapping region ΔKx where the capturing regions K1 and K3overlap with each other for a predetermined length in the horizontaldirection is formed. With the overlapping regions ΔKx and ΔKy beingprovided in such a way, since the probability of the entire image of theiris A1 being included in at least one of the neighboring capturingregions K1 and K2 (or K3) is increased, this can reduce the probabilityof the iris A1 being divided and no iris image being obtained. It isdesirable that the length of the overlapping region ΔKx be longer thanor equal to half the horizontal length of each of the capturing regionsK1 and K3. It is desirable that the length of the overlapping region ΔKybe longer than or equal to half the vertical length of each of thecapturing regions K1 and K2. Thereby, since each point on the face ofthe user A is included in both the capturing regions K1 and K2 (or K3)neighboring each other, it is possible to effectively suppress the irisA1 from being divided.

While the movable mirror 220 according to the present example embodimentis rotated about two axes, the movable mirror 220 may be rotated about asingle axis as with the first example embodiment. In such a case, thewidth in the horizontal direction of the capturing region K1 is equal tothe width in the horizontal direction of the scan region J, the movablemirror 220 is rotated about one axis (X-axis), and thereby the entirescan region J can be captured.

The apparatus configuration of the iris capture apparatus 200 is thesame as the iris capture apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 2 . FIG. 13is a block diagram of the iris capture apparatus 200 according to thepresent example embodiment. In FIG. 13 , lines between blocks illustratemain dataflows, and other dataflows than is illustrated in FIG. 13 maybe provided. In FIG. 13 , each block does not illustrate a configurationof a hardware (device) unit but illustrates a configuration of afunction unit.

The iris capture apparatus 200 has a human detection unit 2001, a mirrorcontrol unit 2002, a capture unit 2003, an iris image acquisition unit2004, an iris recognition unit 2005, and a gate control unit 2006. Inthe iris capture apparatus 100, the human detection unit 2001, themirror control unit 2002, the capture unit 2003, the iris imageacquisition unit 2004, the iris recognition unit 2005, and the gatecontrol unit 2006 are stored in the memory 102 as programs executable bythe processor 101, respectively. That is, when the iris capture methodaccording to the present example embodiment is executed, the processor101 functions as the human detection unit 2001, the mirror control unit2002, the capture unit 2003, the iris image acquisition unit 2004, theiris recognition unit 2005, and the gate control unit 2006. At leastsome of these functions may be implemented by an electric circuit ratherthan a program.

The human detection unit 2001 uses the human sensor 240 to detectwhether or not the user A is present within (that is, passes through) apredetermined detecting range every predetermined time (for example,every 0.1 second). The detecting range of the human sensor 240 is set ina space over a path on which the user A moves to the gate 250. The humandetection unit 2001 holds the latest detection result in the memory 102or the storage device 103. The mirror control unit 2002, the captureunit 2003, and the iris image acquisition unit 2004 repeat acquisitionof an iris image during a predetermined period (for example, 5 seconds)after the presence of the user A is detected by the human detection unit2001.

The mirror control unit 2002 and the capture unit 2003 cause the camera210 to capture the scan region J, which is closer to the gate 250 thanthe detecting range of the human sensor 240 and is located in a spaceover a path on which the user A moves to the gate 250. First, the mirrorcontrol unit 2002 transmits an electrical signal to the movable mirror220 and drives the movable mirror 220 to rotate up to a predeterminedstart position. Next, the capture unit 2003 emits a light from the lightsource 230 to the scan region J and causes the camera 210 to capture apredetermined capturing range within the scan region J. Every timecapturing is performed by the capture unit 2003, the mirror control unit2002 transmits an electrical signal to the movable mirror 220 and drivesthe movable mirror 220 to rotate by a predetermined direction. In such away, rotation operated by the mirror control unit 2002 and capturingoperated by the capture unit 2003 are repeated. After rotation operatedby the mirror control unit 2002 and capturing operated by the captureunit 2003 are repeated for a predetermined number of times, the captureunit 2003 holds a captured group of images (that is, the entire image ofthe scan region J) in the memory 102 or the storage device 103 andacquires the next iris image. Until the iris image is successfullyacquired or until a predetermined time has elapsed, the mirror controlunit 2002 again drives the movable mirror 220 to move the movable mirror220 back to the predetermined start position and repeats the capturingof an image of the scan region J to the acquisition of the iris image.The start position of the movable mirror 220 and the angle and thenumber of repetition of the rotation of the movable mirror 220 arepreset in accordance with the arrangement of the camera 210 and themovable mirror 220 and stored in the storage device 103.

The iris image acquisition unit 2004 acquires an iris image from a groupof images acquired by the capture unit 2003. Acquisition of an irisimage from a group of images is performed by either the division imagescheme or the composite image scheme described above.

The iris recognition unit 2005 recognizes whether or not the user A isallowed to pass the gate 250 by using a known iris recognition methodbased on the iris image acquired by the iris image acquisition unit2004. Specifically, the iris recognition unit 2005 extracts the patternof the iris from the iris image acquired by the iris image acquisitionunit 2004 and extracts information similar to the pattern as informationon the user A in accordance with a predetermined criterion. The irisrecognition unit 2005 then allows passage of the gate 250 if theinformation on the user A indicates authority of passage of the gate 250and, otherwise, rejects passage of the gate 250.

The gate control unit 2006 transmits an electrical signal to the gate250 to open or close the gate 250 based on the determination performedby the iris recognition unit 2005.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of an iris capture methodaccording to the present example embodiment. First, the human detectionunit 2001 uses the human sensor 240 to detect whether or not the user Ais present within the detecting range (step S21). If the user A is notdetected in step S21 (step S22, NO), step S21 is repeated everypredetermined time. If the user A is detected (step S22, YES), the iriscapture apparatus 200 acquires an image of the face of the user A withinthe scan region J using a capture process illustrated in FIG. 8 (stepS100). Next, the iris capture apparatus 200 acquires an iris image ofthe user A using the iris image acquisition process illustrated in FIG.9 and FIG. 10 from the image of the face of the user A acquired in stepS100 (step S200). If no iris image is acquired in step S200 (step S23,NO), the capture apparatus of step S100 and the iris image acquisitionprocess of step S200 are repeated within the scan region J.

If an iris image is acquired in step S200 (step S23, YES), the irisrecognition unit 2005 recognizes whether or not the user A is allowed topass through the gate 250 using a known iris recognition method based onan iris image acquired by the iris image acquisition unit 2004 (stepS24). If the user A is recognized in step S24 (step S25, YES), the gatecontrol unit 2006 opens the gate 250 (step S26). If the user A is notrecognized in step S24 (step S25, NO), the gate control unit 2006 closesthe gate 250 (step S27).

The present invention captures a user by rotating a mirror and thereforecan quickly acquire a high resolution iris image. Thus, by repeatedlyattempting acquisition of an iris image in a space on a path on whichthe user moves as described in the present example embodiment, even whenthe user is moving, the iris image thereof can be acquired andwalk-through recognition can be realized.

Other Example Embodiments

FIG. 15 is a schematic configuration diagram of the iris captureapparatuses 100 and 200 according to respective example embodimentsdescribed above. FIG. 15 illustrates a configuration example forimplementing the function of the iris capture apparatuses 100 and 200acquiring an image of a user's iris. The iris capture apparatuses 100and 200 have the rotatable movable mirrors 120 and 220, the controlunits 1002 and 2002 that control rotation of the movable mirrors 120 and220, the capture units 1003 and 2003 that capture different regions of aface of a user via the movable mirrors 120 and 220 and output a group ofimages every time the control units 1002 and 2002 rotate the movablemirrors 120 and 220 by a predetermined angle, and the iris imageacquisition units 1004 and 2004 that acquire an image of an iris of theuser from the group of images, respectively.

The present invention is not limited to the example embodimentsdescribed above and can be changed as appropriate within a range notdeparting from the spirits of the present invention.

A processing method that stores a program that operates theconfiguration of the example embodiment to implement the function ofeach example embodiment described above (more specifically, the programthat causes a computer to execute the method illustrated in FIG. 7 toFIG. 10 and FIG. 14 ) in a storage medium, reads the program stored inthe storage medium as a code, and executes it in a computer is alsoincluded in the scope of each example embodiment. That is, a computerreadable storage medium is also included in the scope of each exampleembodiment. Further, not only the storage medium in which the programdescribed above is stored but also the program itself is included ineach example embodiment.

As the storage medium, for example, a floppy (registered trademark)disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, amagnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, or a ROM may be used.Further, without being limited to one executing the process with onlythe program stored in the storage medium, those operating on an OS toexecute the process in corporation with other software or the functionof an extension board is included in the scope of each exampleembodiment.

The whole or part of the example embodiments disclosed above can bedescribed as, but not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

(Supplementary Note 1)

An iris capture apparatus comprising:

-   -   a rotatable movable mirror;    -   a control unit that controls rotation of the movable mirror;    -   a capture unit that captures different regions of a face of a        user via the movable mirror and outputs a group of images every        time the control unit rotates the movable mirror by a        predetermined angle; and    -   an iris image acquisition unit that acquires an image of an iris        of the user from the group of images.

(Supplementary Note 2)

The iris capture apparatus according to supplementary note 1, whereinrespective parts of two neighboring regions of the regions overlap witheach other.

(Supplementary Note 3)

The iris capture apparatus according to supplementary note 1 or 2,wherein the iris image acquisition unit determines a position of theiris of the user by calculating a feature amount from the group ofimages and comparing the feature amount with a feature amount of apre-stored iris.

(Supplementary Note 4)

The iris capture apparatus according to supplementary note 1 or 2,wherein the iris image acquisition unit determines a position of theiris of the user by composing the group of images to generate acomposite image and detecting a position of an eye included in thecomposite image.

(Supplementary Note 5)

The iris capture apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1to 4,

-   -   wherein the movable mirror is rotatable about a first axis, and    -   wherein, by the control unit rotating the movable mirror about        the first axis for a predetermined number of times, the capture        unit captures the entire region of the face of the user.

(Supplementary Note 6)

The iris capture apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1to 4,

-   -   wherein the movable mirror is rotatable about a first axis and a        second axis, and    -   wherein, by the control unit rotating the movable mirror about        the first axis and the second axis for a predetermined number of        times, the capture unit captures the entire region of the face        of the user.

(Supplementary Note 7)

The iris capture apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1to 6 further comprising an iris recognition unit that recognizes theuser based on the image of the iris.

(Supplementary Note 8)

The iris capture apparatus according to supplementary note 7 furthercomprising a gate that can be opened and closed,

-   -   wherein the iris recognition unit recognizes whether or not the        user is allowed to pass through the gate based on the image of        the iris.

(Supplementary Note 9)

The iris capture apparatus according to supplementary note 8, whereinthe capture unit repeatedly captures a space over a path on which theuser moves to the gate until the iris image acquisition unitsuccessfully acquires the image of the iris.

(Supplementary Note 10)

The iris capture apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1to 9 further comprising a light source that irradiates the user with alight,

-   -   wherein the light source is arranged such that the region is        irradiated with the light via the movable mirror.

(Supplementary Note 11)

The iris capture apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1to 10, wherein the movable mirror has a stepping motor, and the controlunit rotates the movable mirror by driving the stepping motor.

(Supplementary Note 12)

An iris capture method comprising steps of:

-   -   rotating a rotatable movable mirror repeatedly by a        predetermined angle;    -   capturing different regions of a face of a user via the movable        mirror and outputting a group of images every time rotating the        movable mirror by a predetermined angle; and    -   acquiring an image of an iris of the user from the group of        images.

(Supplementary Note 13)

A storage medium that causes a computer to execute steps of

-   -   rotating a rotatable movable mirror repeatedly by a        predetermined angle;    -   capturing different regions of a face of a user via the movable        mirror and outputting a group of images every time rotating the        movable mirror by a predetermined angle; and    -   acquiring an image of an iris of the user from the group of        images.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An iris capture apparatus comprising: aprocessor configured to: activate a camera; acquire a first image, thefirst image depicting an iris of a user, by: rotating a rotatablemovable mirror of the iris capture apparatus repeatedly by apredetermined angle; capturing different regions of a face of the userthrough the camera and outputting a group of images when the rotatablemovable mirror is rotated by the predetermined angle; and identifying animage depicting the iris of the user from the group of images as thefirst image; and capture a second image, the second image depicting irisof the user, from the first image, wherein the second image has a higherresolution than the first image.
 2. The iris capture apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the rotatable movable mirror of the iris captureapparatus is rotatable about a first axis, and wherein the processor isconfigured to rotate the rotatable movable mirror of the iris captureapparatus about the first axis for a predetermined number of times. 3.The iris capture apparatus according to claim 1, wherein respectiveparts of two neighboring capturing regions of the iris capture apparatusoverlap with each other.
 4. The iris capture apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine a position ofthe iris of the user by calculating a feature amount from the group ofimages and comparing the feature amount with a feature amount of apre-stored iris.
 5. The iris capture apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to determine a position of the irisof the user by composing the group of images to generate a compositeimage and detecting a position of an eye included in the compositeimage.
 6. The iris capture apparatus according to claim 1 furthercomprising a gate that can be opened and closed, wherein the processoris configured to recognize whether or not the user is allowed to passthrough the gate based on the image of the iris.
 7. The iris captureapparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor is configured torepeatedly capture a space over a path on which the user moves to thegate until the iris image acquisition unit successfully acquires theimage of the iris.
 8. The iris capture apparatus according to claim 1further comprising a light source that irradiates the user with a light,wherein the light source is arranged such that the region is irradiatedwith the rotatable movable mirror of the iris capture apparatus.
 9. Theiris capture apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, after acquiringthe first image, the processor is configured to capture the secondimage.
 10. The iris capture apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theprocessor is configured to rotate the rotatable movable mirror of theiris capture apparatus by the predetermined angle for a predeterminednumber of times.
 11. The iris capture apparatus according to claim 1,wherein capturing different regions of a face of a user and outputting agroup of images each time the rotatable movable mirror is rotated by apredetermined angle comprises: capturing a first capturing region whenthe rotatable movable mirror is at a first state, the first capturingregion including a face of the user; rotating the rotatable movablemirror by the predetermined angle from the first state; and capturing asecond capturing region.
 12. The iris capture apparatus according toclaim 11, wherein the second capturing region is offset a predetermineddistance in the vertical direction from the first capturing region. 13.The iris capture apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a verticallength of at least one of the first capturing region and the secondcapturing region is 6.7 cm.
 14. The iris capture apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the predetermined angle is smaller than or equal to 7.5degrees.
 15. The iris capture apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe processor is configured to repeatedly rotate the rotatable movablemirror of the iris capture apparatus to acquire a high-resolution imageof the iris of the user.
 16. The iris capture apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein a number of repetition of rotation of the rotatablemovable mirror is based on a distance between the iris capture apparatusand the user.
 17. A method of iris capturing comprising: activating acamera; acquiring a first image, the first image depicting an iris of auser, by: rotating a rotatable movable mirror of the iris captureapparatus repeatedly by a predetermined angle; capturing differentregions of a face of the user through the camera and outputting a groupof images when the rotatable movable mirror is rotated by thepredetermined angle; and identifying an image depicting the iris of theuser from the group of images as the first image; and capturing a secondimage, the second image depicting iris of the user, from the firstimage, wherein the second image has a higher resolution than the firstimage.
 18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having storedtherein a program for performing a method of iris capturing comprising:activating a camera; acquiring a first image, the first image depictingan iris of a user, by: rotating a rotatable movable mirror of the iriscapture apparatus repeatedly by a predetermined angle; capturingdifferent regions of a face of the user through the camera andoutputting a group of images when the rotatable movable mirror isrotated by the predetermined angle; and identifying an image depictingthe iris of the user from the group of images as the first image; andcapturing a second image, the second image depicting iris of the user,from the first image, wherein the second image has a higher resolutionthan the first image.